Unless you live in a bubble, you’ve heard about all the drama over how the Oscars are for white people and how it’s racist. You’ve seen celebrities speaking out against the Academy and people boycotting the show. All I’ve heard about the Oscars this year is about race, and sexism, and how it needs to stop. What I haven’t heard is people congratulating those nominated.

Being someone with a theatre past and being a huge movie buff, I know how much hard work goes into a role. How much time goes into writing a script and directing a movie. Writing songs for a soundtrack or scoring a movie. People make it their lives to complete a project; they lose sleep, they’re away from their families, and are under stress we can’t even imagine. These actors, writers, directors, costume designers, etc. need the praise they deserve.

Why is it so hard for people to be excited for those nominated? Or even those who aren’t? You did something incredible and put in so much work. So what if you didn’t get nominated for an award? It’s just a trophy. And that’s coming from someone who would kill to win one of those.

Did you see Leonardo Dicapprio in "The Revenant?" How about Brie Larson in "Room?" If you haven’t, you need to. Their performances were incredible. The people who sit at their computers criticizing the Academy because people of color were not included are the ones who haven’t seen the amazing work each person nominated accomplished. Jada Pinkett Smith came out and boycotted the show because her husband, Will Smith, wasn’t nominated. Now, I love him and I love watching him, but did she even consider that his performance just wasn’t up to par with the rest? He would be going up against the likes of Brian Cranston ("Trumbo"), Eddie Redmayne ("The Danish Girl"), Dicaprio, Matt Damon ("The Martian"), and Michael Fassbender ("Steve Jobs"). I’ll be honest" I didn’t see "Concussion," the movie Smith would have been nominated for, but I’m sure he did a great job. The Academy didn’t decide to not include any people of color just because the fact that they aren’t white; they just thought other people deserved to be nominated. Yes it’s unfortunate that it turned out the way it did, but do you really think people would purposely choose something that they know would cause such a backlash? When are we going to be able to stop looking at color and accept people as human beings?

Watch the Oscars and enjoy the show. Be happy for those who win and be happy for those who lose. Don’t make it about color; make it about talent and hard work. Give praise where there should be and shut your mouth if you don’t like something. And for those of you who forget, you don’t even have to watch it if you don’t want to. Congratulate people for their accomplishments and accept them for who they are. It’s not that hard.